The Broward Republic faces a looming war within the state

Although the skirmish between the Capital Forces and the Democratic Republic of Broward has been brewing for sometime, it's become obvious in the past few weeks that the fighting has escalated.

Typically, residents living in Florida's second-largest county hear bits and pieces about the battle from their leaders, who often fret over state government cuts to such cherished programs, like libraries, parks and public schools. There have been other painful spending reductions to equally compelling services - child welfare and foster care, nursing home reimbursements and prosecutors' positions and salries to name just a few - but anguish over those problems don't seem to resonate among the rank and file.

However, the Capital Forces recently deployed a weapon that had been talked about as far back as the early days of the campaign - privatization. Commuter rail, highways, major streets, even social services - nothing seems to be off-limits. The leaders of the Republic are said to be in a tizzy. The good news is that no one has called for a mass evacuation of the realm - at least not yet.

Early this month, the leaders of the Republic uncovered a diabolical plot by the Capital Forces to take over Broward's alcohol, drug abuse and mental health programs. Using an administrative boundary change to match the Medicaid program and a backroom deal to amend an already existing contract, the Capital Forces put the realm's programs under the auspices of a Miami-based managing entity, which only raised the threat-level throughout the shaken Republic.

The powers-that-be convened an emergency meeting of the delegation of elected officials who represent the Republic in the statehouse to bemoan the process that put them in such dire straits. Minions, summoned to the meeting by the Capital Forces, expressed their regrets and promised to to "slow down the process" enough to make things right.

The Republic is still waiting for a resolution, but it wasn't long before the Capital Forces struck again.

This time, press disclosures alerted all of South Florida to a series of secret meetings between the Capital Forces and the Florida East Coast Railway to acquire Tri-Rail and privatize it. To say the news caught leaders of the Republic by surprise would be an understatment. Since the realm's taxpayers, along with their counterparts in the two neighboring counties, pay $13 million a year to keep the Tri-Rail trains running, they had good reason to be put out.

The Capital Forces dispatched another set of minions who apologized to the Republic's distraught leaders, and characterized the secret talks as a "white board exercise" that weren't negotiations to take over Tri-Rail. In fact, the minions had high praise for Tri-Rail, as a future "regional planning agency." Still, they didn't hide their displeasure that Tri-Rail could save possibly $10 million annually by cutting administrative costs. There were no details provided to support the assertion, much to the Republic's dismay.

Making matters worse, more money from the three counties would be mandatory to support Tri-Rail or any new rail venture the Capital Forces could dream up. Those statements left the leaders of the Republic wondering. Why, they wondered, should their taxpayers pay more money to a private firm for an operation that was supposed to save them money?

The two incidents can be described in one word: unnerving.

The Republic of Broward takes great pride in using the levers of government to actually resolve problems, particularly those facing heavily populated and diverse communities like South Florida. They face the reality of big cities, not the fanfare of the villages. Innovation, private-public partnerships to reduce costs, a well-timed appropriation, fee or tax - the Republic has had its successes in seeking smarter government in a time of fewer resources.

The winds of change may be springtime in some parts of the world. In the Republic, it's more of a summer of discontent.